US Judicial System 

The Federal Judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the US Government. However, there are also the state courts, each one having jurisdiction within its own state. 

On federal level, the trial courts are the U.S. district courts. There are 94 in total, with 663 judges. There is also a choice for the plaintiff, the person who brings the case, to choose between a state court or a federal court. Nevertheless, there are some certain criteria to start a case in the federal courts. For instance, all criminal cases start in state courts. 

If the result of the trial is not a good one, or one of the sides did not like the way the law was applied, the sentence can be appealed. There is a bigger a chance for an appeal to be accepted at the state-level courts than in the federal courts.

Regarding federal courts of appeal, there are 12 of them and there are distributed regionally throughout the United States. 

Distribution of the federal courts of appeal across the US

There are 4 scenarios where the federal courts have original jurisdiction:

1. Cases where the law at issue is a federal law
2. Cases involving treaties
3. Cases involving the US Constitution
4. Cases where the US Government is a party to the litigation

But, the final court of appeals is the US Supreme Court. Established in 1789, in Washington, it is the highest court in the United States. It has 9 judges and they have life tenure. In order to become a Supreme Court judge, you have to be nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the US Senate. 

The US Judicial System chart

Seal of the US Supreme Court

The current members of the US Supreme Court

Clarence Thomas, the most senior of the current judges

John G. Roberts, Jr.; the Chief Justice of the United States since 2005

The Supreme Court has jurisdiction in cases between:

1. The US and a state (for instance, Texas)
2. Two or more states
3. Cases between foreign ministers or ambassadors
4. Cases brought by citizens of one state against citizens of another state

Here is a list of landmark court decisions by the US Supreme Court:

1. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
   
3. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
4. Roe v. Wade (1973)